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In this one, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) hails from the realm of Asgard, and is apparently more of an alien than a god or deity. Cast out of Asgard by his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) as punishment for narcissism and disobedience, Thor’s stripped of his powers and banished to our little marble, landing in small town New Mexico. There, he’s confronted by a world that greets his stories of fantastic kingdoms and powers with scorn, and where his mighty hammer, containing the thundery awesomeness of his powers, remains inaccessibly stuck in a block of stone. Thor then must not only clash with a civilization that doesn’t respect his ancestry, but also with the machinations of villains back home and some surprisingly well-intentioned government agents.

Notably, this is the first Marvel film of the “Avengers” series whose hero is unburdened by the darkness and sorrow of a Tony Stark or Bruce Banner. Thor’s a proud, aggressive warrior, so merry that he manages to be pleasant even as he carelessly invades another planet to slaughter its monstrous inhabitants. Hemsworth, with his magazine cover physique and flowing blonde locks photographed to maximum effect, demonstrates an enormous likeability key to the film’s success. Coupled with his strikingly muscular presence, he doubtlessly has potential to be a common blockbuster presence for some time to come, provided he plays his cards right. He imbues the film’s best moments, in which Thor grapples with his ego and comes to put the welfare of others above his own hubris, with a dramatic heft that makes him an easy character to root for.

The aforementioned lightness of the tone doesn’t mean that the story is without weight, and Branaugh aptly balances the misadventures of the earth-trapped Thor with the royal intrigue on the other side of the galaxy. Back home, Thor’s brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) makes moves to seize the Asgardian throne, and apt writing and acting make him seem more dramatically misguided than villainous, giving the final confrontation an extra dramatic kick that would likely be absent were he just a cackling evildoer. Branagh’s action scenes, though not as impressive as the tech-heavy sequences from Jon Favreau’s “Iron Man,” aptly render straightforward superhero combat, and with more flair than I had expected.

One of the film’s more interesting moments is also its most ideological, when Thor tells the government agents (or the SHIELD agents to us geeks) that he recognizes their benevolent intent and offers his hand in an alliance. It’s a brief but memorable moment from an industry that has spent much time demonizing the intelligence community, especially in light of their recent very public success.

Natalie Portman, apparently one of Hollywood’s busiest actresses, plays Jane, Thor’s love interest and possibly the world’s cutest astrophysicist. Portman doesn’t have much to do other than smile for the camera and fawn over this handsome extraterrestrial, which results in a romance that’s somewhat lacking in the intensity department. Their relationship seems better suited for a hard crush than the passionate love the dialogue later suggests, though it’s easy enough to forgive as the plot gains speed.

Comic films of the past decade, good and bad, all seem to be either serious or grim, and it’s almost startling to remember that to many, the medium represents colorful, lighthearted entertainment.  Just as the story, with its otherworldly royalty and small town journey of discovery, is both epic and personal, it’s sufficiently heavy and certainly fun.

And the shrill and very vocal faction of the homosexual community cried foul at not only his portrayal, but of the portrayal of homosexuals in “The Silence of the Lambs.” GLAAD led a protest of “Basic Instinct” before the movie had even wrapped principal photography, and the controversy continued when Tri-Star released the picture during so-called Awards Season in 1992.

The nominees:

“J.F.K.” – Great filmmaking and mythmaking.

“The Silence of the Lambs” – The winner, released all the way back in February of 1991, and a genuine crowd pleaser.

“Beauty and the Beast” – I’m not saying it’s a bad movie, but it’s inclusion smacks of tokenism, as in, “There. We nominated an animated movie. Now leaves us alone.”

“Bugsy” – Another good movie, but I remember thinking, “If this gangster movie wins after ‘Goodfellas’ lost, I’ll threaten a boycott like my gay friends did.”

“The Prince of Tides” – The stink here was that Babs wasn’t nominated for best director. It had to have stung that Ridley Scott was nominated instead for directing “Thelma & Louise,” a wrongly politicized road movie about two women on the run from the law. Babs also missed out on scoring one for women when John Singleton was nominated for “Boyz N The Hood.” The irony, I guess, is that all these years later, both “The Prince of Tides” and “Boyz N The Hood” feel like TV movies.

What should have been nominated:

“Terminator 2: Judgment Day” – A bullet, from beginning to end, and one of the great action movies of all time.

“Cape Fear” – Pure over-the-top, preposterous escapism. But I can’t get enough of it.

“What About Bob?” – I’m sailing!

“J.F.K.” – Mostly I love how actors pop up in often bizarre characters who are in only one or two scenes and just knock it out of the park. Like Kevin Bacon, John Candy, and Joe Pesci.

“The Silence of the Lambs” – More pure escapism, expertly crafted, scary, tense, and just plain awesome. It deserved every award it won and more.

There are many, many things to love about Jonathan Demme’s adaptation of the novel by Thomas Harris. Of course the screenplay and performances are great. And in refusing to allow Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) to ever give a big speech about how difficult it is to be a woman in a man’s world, the film gives us no choice but to side with her. Make no mistake about it, the movie is in many ways about how difficult it is to be a woman in the world of law enforcement, but Demme shows us this instead of having his characters hammer it home with dialogue. Demme’s pacing is just right, the movie builds and builds, a creeping sense of dread increasing with every scene as the stakes are constantly raised.

When we meet Clarice in the movie’s opening scenes, it’s obvious she feels she has a lot to prove. We’re not told exactly why she feels this way until fairly late in the movie, but it’s a feeling that pervades every scene in dialogue and in the way Demme, working with Director of Photography Tak Fujimoto, frames his shots. When Clarice first meets Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn), the head of the FBI’s Behavioral Sciences division, they exchange pleasantries over traditional two shots and over the shoulder shots. As Crawford settles in behind his desk, and Clarice across from him, again, Clarice is framed over Jack’s shoulder, which establishes her eye line for the scene. But when Demme cuts to Jack’s close-up, he’s looking dead ahead, his eyes boring into Clarice — and us. When Demme cuts to Clarice’s close-up, the camera is directly in front of her, but she maintains the eye line she established in the previous over-the-shoulder shot. In this scene, Demme establishes a pattern and establishes a first person point of view that puts us inside Clarice’s head and defines the hunt for Buffalo Bill as Clarice’s personal crusade.

The plot of course concerns the serial killer Buffalo Bill (Ted “I’ll Take This Part But Give Me a Month to Completely Transform My Looks Or I’ll Never Act Again” Levine), so named because he skins his victims. Over thirty minutes pass before we ever meet Buffalo Bill, but the hunt is on in the form of an “interesting errand.” Crawford gets the crazy/brilliant idea that maybe the infamous serial killer Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) will help profile Bill, but only if he’s given the right motivation. Clarice twice interviews him, and while he sees right through the ruse, he sees something in Clarice and agrees to play ball — on his terms. He knows Crawford and Clarice will have to play ball, because Buffalo Bill will undoubtedly soon find his next victim.

In minor stroke of genius, the victim, Catherine Martin (Brooke Smith), is introduced driving alone, singing “American Girl” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, drumming on the steering wheel as the camera pulls back from a close up and holds for a moment before pushing back to a close up again. Demme cuts to his first shot of Buffalo Bill, wearing night vision goggles. As he turns them on for a glimpse of Catherine, the goggles hum and whir creepily, and moments later — the stakes increase.

There are no slow moments, and we’re never given a chance to question the absurdity of Buffalo Bill’s bizarre plan or his ridiculous ritual involving exporting moths, both of which could have seriously felt contrived and could have caused the movie to completely collapse. Instead, the whole thing builds to not one but two incredible fake outs, neither of which feel like director’s cheats.

Thinking about “The Silence of the Lambs” reminds me what it used to be like to see a movie in the packed theater, the audience drawn to the movie just because of a good trailer and a great cast. Sure, the book was popular and no doubt its fans showed up, but it wasn’t an eagerly anticipated adaptation with a ton of hype.  There was no Comic Con buzz, no negative buzz; we did not know what to expect. People screamed at scary moments, laughed at the humorous moments — a true collective, shared experience. We were putty in Demme’s hands. Finally, I remember the finale, in which Clarice is trapped, alone with Buffalo Bill, and he turns out the lights. The hum and whir of the night vision goggles swells on sound, and some dude eight rows up and to my right bellowed what we all were thinking: “Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, shit!” And everyone laughed, nervously.

There used to be more experiences like that at the movies. It wasn’t an anomaly–it happened all the time. Does it happen at all anymore?

As for the criticisms and purported homophobia…huh? Stung, Demme next directed “Philadelphia,” an exercise in political correctness that garnered Tom Hanks the first of his two Academy Awards.  But “The Silence of the Lambs” will probably forever be his masterpiece.

The lead character in the story is Michael Kovak (Colin O’ Donoghue), who decides early on that he wants to enter the priesthood. He’s not excited about his decision and his faith isn’t  really explored early on in the story. Kovak just knows that being a priest is a better option for him than becoming a mortician like his father. That’s a good enough reason for him to enter the ministry.  

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Even as Kovak starts training for the priesthood, it’s unclear if he even believes in God. It’s no surprise then when Kovak, right before he is confirmed as priest, decides to quit. He’s lost whatever faith he might have had when he entered the ministry. However, God has other plans for Kovak and before his resignation is accepted, he watches as a woman gets struck by a car. Kneeling near the dying woman, she asks him to bless her and Kovak acquiesces.

At the advice of Father Matthew (Toby Jones), who also witnessed the accident, Kovak decides to visit Rome to take a class on exorcisms. Kovak still doesn’t believe in God but he chooses to take the trip and is soon introduced to Father Lucas Trevant (Anthony Hopkins), a man who routinely performs exorcisms at his home.

Father Trevant is a firm believer in both Christ and the devil. Kovak, after watching the exorcism of a pregnant patient, still has doubts about religion and questions Trevant’s methods.  Kovak believes that Trevant’s patients are ill, not possessed. As the pregnant girl continues to struggle with the demons inside of her, Kovak questions whether or not she is actually being possessed by a demon.  

From start to finish, ”The Rite” is a genuinely creepy story. Instead of relying on people or objects popping up on screen to frighten the audience, the story slowly builds up suspense. Even when you think you know where the story is going, it takes several unexpected turns and offers a few nice surprises. One of the film’s best surprises is Anthony Hopkins’ strong performance. The role of Trevant features both quiet moments and more intense ones and Hopkins handles both situations well, proving how great he can be when given strong material.

The story also takes the subject of exorcisms seriously and shows both sides of the debate. Both Kovak and Father Trevant are presented as strong and relatable characters. Alice Braga, who shows up as a reporter writing a story about exorcisms, also does a strong job with her role as a cynical but interested  observer who finds herself getting closer to the story than she was prepared for.

Overall, “The Rite” is a well-made thriller that features several strong performances. The story takes its time and builds up to an exciting conclusion. It’s a movie that will likely start a few debates with its depiction of both religion and exorcisms. However, it’s a story that takes faith seriously and offers a few insights into the subject.

If that doesn’t interest you, “The Rite” is also one hell of a creepy movie.

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Legend has it that “The Exorcist” filmmakers also suffered from an on-set curse that caused numerous accidents and even a death to occur during the filming process. This weekend, a new film called “The Rite” is hitting theaters with its own dark tale of a young priest-in-training named Michael Kovak (Colin O’Donoghue in a star-making film debut) whose personal crisis of faith is tested by a creepy veteran exorcist named Father Lucas, played to chilly perfection by the modern master of cinematic evil, Anthony Hopkins (“Silence of the Lambs”).

While “The Rite” offers plenty of jaw-dropping horrific moments, the key difference between it and “The Exorcist” is the fact that it’s rooted in a nonfiction book on the subject called The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist, by journalist Matt Baglio. As a result of the presence of Baglio and the book’s subject, an American exorcist named Father Gary Thomas, the film relies less on gallons of pea soup and grotesque effects and more on a subtle, reflective – yet still thrilling – approach to its subject.

The film follows Kovak as he decides to enter a seminary for priestly training after being given an ultimatum by his father (Rutger Hauer) to enter either the family mortuary business or become a priest. Kovak‘s mother passed away when he was a young boy. After finishing his four years of pre-vow studies, he tries to resign from the seminary and get off the hook with a free education but no commitment to the priesthood.

But after he’s witness to a bizarre, split-second accident that kills a bicyclist and he fulfills her dying wish for an absolution of her sins, Kovak is given an ultimatum by the head of the seminary: either confront his doubts by going for exorcist training at the Vatican, or risk having the church reclassify his $100,000 education as a student loan rather than a scholarship. Kovak heads for Rome, and soon is forced to team up with Father Lucas as punishment for his snarky expression of doubts about the devil during his other teachers’ lectures.

Together, Kovak and Father Lucas form an intriguing father-son style team that expertly mixes dark wit, powerful emotions, and nail-biting suspense to make this exploration of faith and doubt richly entertaining. Writer Michael Petroni and director Mikael Hafstrom (“1408”) treat their subject with appropriate gravity without becoming heavy-handed, and pull out Hopkins’ best performance since “Hannibal” a full decade ago.

But the story rests on O’Donoghue’s richly varied performance, as he expertly serves as a surrogate for viewers’ doubts while effectively taking them along on his at times terrifying quest for the truth. His mix of leading-man looks and dashing combination of humor, emotion, and terror bodes well for a long career.

Rooted in solid real-life experience and consultations as well as a surprisingly strong respect for faith and a portrayal of priests as heroes, “The Rite” scores points not only as entertainment but as a refreshing portrait of faith.  And in giving viewers an intelligent yet fun exploration of life, death, and the existence of evil, “The Rite” should prove ready for a long run at the multiplex.

You have to believe that out there somewhere is an action movie director who knows what a tripod is.  That there is a young lead actor who has never starred in a CW television series about beautiful but sensitive teenage male models with supernatural powers.  That there is a comedy screenwriter who can imagine a “funny” situation not involving a bodily fluid.  That Michael Cera will one day play a different character.

In that spirit, a spirit of Pollyannaish hope in the face of overwhelming evidence indicating that Hollywood’s product will almost certainly continue to demonstrate that evolution is a two-way street, I present ten movies that are coming within the next six months that might actually be good – or at least not make me throw things at the screen and slap around the ushers.

1.  The Wolfman (This Weekend):  I’m digging the idea of this remake of the classic Universal horror flick.  The super cool trailer got me, as did the presence of Anthony Hopkins.  Now, let’s talk about the baggy-eyed, mumbly elephant in the room.  Yeah, it’s got Benicio Del Toro, but on the bright side he’ll probably spend most of the movie howling.  Sure, I’m still steamed about his commie suck-up fests Che Part  I and Part II, but at least the second one has a deliriously happy ending. 

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2.  Shutter Island (February 29, 2010):  I’ve taken some grief lately about my view that Leonardo DiCaprio is to acting what herpes is to romance.  Not Ben Shapiro-level grief, but grief nonetheless.  In my own defense, DiCaprio is terrible.  And that brings us to this bizarre Scorsese flick that I had zero interest in until I watched the mind-blowing trailer.  Apparently DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo are government agents and they go to some mental hospital for the criminally insane and everything works out swimmingly.  Not.  It looks awesome, even with Leo.  Freaky.  Creepy.  I am so there.

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3.  The Crazies (February 26, 2010):  I love zombie movies.  I even wrote one once.  The producers who optioned it hired a script consultant who wanted me to build up the characters’ back stories.  I observed that perhaps they had forgotten that it was a zombie movie.  Hence my career in law.  But I digress.  This flick, a remake of George Romero’s little-seen original – little-seen because it stinks – at least seems to have the potential for some old-fashioned B-movie thrills.  It’s regular folks turning into homicidal maniacs – classic.  Sure, there seems a slight anti-military vibe to the trailer with the implication that our troops are a bit trigger-happy, but hey – when the zombie apocalypse starts, bro, it’s shoot first and ask questions later.

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4.  Cop Out (February 26, 2010):  Yes, it looks idiotic, but it’s Kevin Smith directing Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan in a cop movie.  Oh, and that Stifler guy is in it too.  How can that go wrong?  Actually, how will I know if it goes wrong, because I’m not seeing it without first having a Dos Equis or four to get my mind right.  This will be perfect for those nights when you don’t want to challenge yourself with more cerebral fare – like The Crazies.

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5.  Greenberg (March 26, 2010):  This new Ben Stiller film, directed by Noah Baumbach, looks like some kind of art house slacker-comedy.  Still, it seems amusing, and it also features the return of Jennifer Jason Leigh.  From the trailer, she’s gotten even cuter.  It’s worth a shot.

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6.  Hot Tub Time Machine (March 26, 2010):  Let me just say it again, because if you are wondering why this movie must not be missed then you obviously did not read and appreciate the title:  Hot Tub Time Machine.  Witness the magic.  John Cusak.  Rob Corddry.  Craig Robinson.  The chubby guy who turned Amish in Sex Drive.  With unharnessed star power like that, you’re guaranteed at least a mildly amusing time at the theater.

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7.  Robin Hood (May 14, 2010):  This is the reunion of Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott, and we can only hope it is a tenth as indisputably badass as Gladiator.  The trailer looks interesting, with lots of hacking and smiting.  Still, I’m worried.  I never liked the whole “steal from the rich and give to the poor thing” – I always thought maybe the poor should get off their collective butts and get to work instead of waiting for handouts.  Those barges and bales aren’t going to tote and lift themselves.  But again I digress.  Let’s just keep our fingers crossed on this one.

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8.  The Last Airbender (July 2, 2010):  Who knows – maybe director’s M. Night Shyamalan’s latest surprise twist will be to make a movie that doesn’t suck.  After watching the baffling trailer, I still have no idea in hell what this is about.  My wife says this is somehow related to a cartoon series, and the kids want to see it.  Whatever – I’m just happy about being able to take the kids to the movies and not ending up having to explain where babies come from.

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 9.  Cyrus (July 9, 2010):  I’m a sucker for comedies of acute discomfort, and this one seems appallingly uncomfortable.  John C. Reilly, who was incredibly moving as the loser cop in Magnolia, is the anti-hero.  He meets up with Marissa Tomei, who has a really creepy son in the form of the bulbous Jonah Hill.  Antics ensue.  I can’t wait.

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10.  The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (June 30, 2010):  I’m thoroughly excited about this latest entry in the emo-vampire sweepstakes.  Sorry there’s no trailer, but I’m sure the filmmakers will be branching off in surprising, challenging new directions.  It goes without saying that the first two films were awesome.  Kristen Stewart’s trademark lip-bite can convey an astonishing range of emotions, from anger to fear to joy to unrequited horniness.  That skinny pale boy is dreamy too.  I think that these films get a bad rap, what with most people mocking them instead of approaching the films as the powerful stand-alone artistic statements that they are.  Yes, I am truly looking forward to Twilight III – mostly because it will mean that for a while the kind of people who like these films will be sitting in movie theaters far the hell away from me. 

Looking back over this list, it’s pretty clear that the studios are not exactly front-loading the 2011 Oscar contenders.  But not every movie has to be great.  Sometimes you just want to have fun, and for the next six months that’s where the bar is going to be set – at “Fun,” right below “That Really Made Me Think,” but a notch above “I Shoulda Smuggled in Some More Beers.” 

Maybe next fall there’ll be a few more mature entries.  Until then, just remember that for every Casablanca, there are a thousand MacGrubers.

The Wolfman is far darker than the original. Where once random chance turned Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) into a werewolf, fate turns his modern remake, Lawrence (Benicio Del Toro), into the stuff nightmares are made of. 

In The Wolf Man, Larry Talbot returns home to visit his father after spending years away from home. While there, he meets a town beauty, Gwen (Evelyn Ankers). When he tries to defend one of Gwen’s friends from a werewolf, he is bitten. In turn he becomes a werewolf himself. Not long after, it becomes apparent that both his human, and animal side, are after Gwen. 

In its 2010 reboot, Lawrence Talbot, a Shakespearian actor and the second son of Sir John Talbot (Anthony Hopkins), is returning from a long absence in America to Talbot Castle in Blackmoor, England. But from the start the film’s focus is much darker. Lawrence is returning because his elder brother’s body was found mutilated by a terrible beast—the third finding of its kind. He returns to a castle laid waste by time, adorned with the heads of African beasts, trophies of Sir John’s. Upon arrival he meets his late brother’s fiancée, Gwen (Emily Blunt), who he slowly falls for. But his investigation into his brother’s death, and a bite he sustains when trying to find the raging creature haunting the forests nearby, reveal a darker side to himself and his past—from which he can’t escape. 

Remakes are wonderful case studies of changing culture. In early decades of film, black and white reels depicted for the first time the strange tales of werewolves, vampires, mummies and Frankenstein’s monster. And while a viewing today fails to shock, the creative vision and, in The Wolf Man’s case for example, the story originality are still apparent. 

Today’s Wolfman takes everything to the next level. Horror has ceased to be horror in the classic sense, when audiences were terrified by the look of the beast they saw. Today’s culture is desensitized to such images, and horror now focuses on excessive blood and gore to convey its horrific messages. Filmmakers also use quick movements to scare audiences now. Wolf Man and Wolfman are a perfect example. In the remake, werewolves tear the insides out of their victims, rip limbs off of bodies and maul their victims in bloody displays that are never suggested, always shown. 

The storyline also takes a darker route. Where a detective in Wolf Man only suggests that Larry should be examined psychiatrically, Lawrence is admitted to a psychiatric hospital—the same hospital he was placed in after seeing his mother’s dead body as a child. In the hospital, doctors “treat” him through various torture methods. 

But Universal remained true to certain aspects of its first vision. English fog abounds in both films, and Wolfman is so drained of bright colors (blood red is the most vibrant, as the grass is a pale green and the sky is ever filled with clouds darkening the sun and hiding the full moon’s light) that the film retains an almost black and white feel. In addition, with all the digital effects used to create convincing werewolves, the faces remained surprisingly similar to the original Wolf Man werewolf face. 

Wolfman boasts a strong acting talent. Hopkins plays the estranged father well, though Del Toro would have done better to focus less on his American accent and more on his acting. Both let a darker side flow through them very convincingly. 

The film was strong, with good dialogue and well-constructed imagery. One of the most intriguing changes from the original was the addition of Inspector Abberline (Hugo Weaving). Abberline seems more fascinated with the wolf man idea than intent on killing the creature, at least at first. This fascination comes from another case that Abberline worked on, the Jack the Ripper case—the violence of which paralleled that of the wolf man. In the end, the investigation brings Abberline closer to the wolf man than he ever thought he’d be, and his final expressions let audience members form their own opinions on his thoughts about it. 

Of note is a comment that Blunt’s character makes in the film: “It is said there is no sin in killing beasts, only in killing a man. But where does one begin and the other end?” Stories of terrible murders abound. So at what point does a person cross over into something monstrous, capable of committing such crimes? And what drives them to that point? It comes after being fueled by something other than the autumn moon, to be sure. 

One such criminal, the late serial killer Ted Bundy, gave a final interview to psychologist Dr. James Dobson the day before his execution in 1989. He talked about a key factor that led him down his violent path: pornography, which some call a harder addiction to break from than cocaine. In that interview, Bundy warned about the dangers of hard-core pornography. While he took full responsibility for his actions, his addiction pushed him down the terrible path. In his interview, he claimed he felt like possessed when he murdered his victims. Further, Bundy said, “I’ve lived in prison for a long time now, and I’ve met a lot of men who were motivated to commit violence. Without exception, every one of them was deeply involved in pornography—deeply consumed by the addiction.” 

While views on pornography abound, in Hollywood there is really only one view openly portrayed: it’s not a big deal. Even the protagonists of films such as the American Pie movies enjoy pornography, and the women in the films could care less. But a recent study by the Family Research Council shows that pornography damages families in non-violent ways as well. 

Whether you believe the last words of a serial killer is up to you. But while Hollywood is inspecting a plethora of social issues, it might do well to examine pornography too.

Determined to find, capture and kill whatever beast offed his brother, Lawrence has not only traveled back to his birthplace and its haunting memories, but now has to confront his father head-on for murdering his mother and ward off area townspeople who fear he’s become a beastly ‘wolf man’ himself after surviving a a vicious bite from the monster. Through it all, his primary battle is to maintain his strong sense of decency and underlying humanity from slipping away forever.

Sounds like a heady mix of action and emotions, doesn’t it? Thankfully, “The Wolfman” largely delivers on its promises – particularly through the moving performance and powerfully expressive eyes of Oscar-winning actor Benicio del Toro (“Traffic”), who rebounds from a mostly hitless past decade to sink his teeth (ok, pun intended) into the role of Lawrence Talbot and add genuine gravitas to a tragic character. It also features a strong, yet slightly oddball, performance from Anthony Hopkins, who has also suffered more than his share of box-office setbacks in the last few years but digs into the role of Lawrence’s father Sir John Talbot with the menacing glee of his famed Dr. Hannibal Lecter enjoying a dinner of Chianti and fava beans.

While rising star Emily Blunt (“The Devil Wears Prada,” “Young Victoria”) is on hand as the deceased brother’s girlfriend who starts to fall for Lawrence as well, it is Hugo Weaving as Scotland Yard Inspector Abberline who nearly steals the show from everyone with his cocky cool, able athleticism and dryly sarcastic line readings.

The real stars of the show, however, are the technical armies behind the camera lens, who establish a fully realized world in which the film’s rich and nearly incessant moonlight reveals stunning details of an expansive city in 1890, Victorian-era, England. Special effects master Rick Baker, who won a Best Makeup Oscar for his work on the cult classic “An American Werewolf in London” back in 1981, puts del Toro through his gruesome transformations – including some foot and toe shots that will make you wish you hadn’t ordered the jumbo size popcorn. In an interesting touch, the clergy in the film are a bit hysterical in preparing their worried followers for each full moon, but are overall shown respectably, while del Toro is seen in prayer – complete with sign of the Cross – as he agonizes over his fate. Perhaps these brief Christian-friendly moments can be chalked up to the historic era of the film, but they are nice gestures to see nonetheless.

Add in a great, perfectly evocative offbeat-orchestra score by Danny Elfman, and some spectacular and gruesomely funny showdown scenes between the wolfman and his oppressors, and you’ll find an entertaining film akin to 1999’s Tim Burton-Johnny Depp collaboration “Sleepy Hollow”: a film that may not terrify often, but is consistently tantalizing and fun to watch. Just be forewarned that the ample body counts include decapitations and the loss of many, many limbs among the townspeople; however, much of that bloody action is shot in enough shadow and with enough speed that it doesn’t become too gross for enjoyment and ensures the film remains tasteful (this time, no pun intended).

“The Wolfman’ marks not only a comeback and second chance for del Toro and Hopkins, but a great artistic leap forward for effects-whiz director Joe Johnston (“Jumanji,” “October Sky,” “Jurassic Park III”). Here’s hoping they use that second chance wisely.

What follows is a list of the Top 10 performances of the last quarter century.  It focuses on lead roles, or at least substantial ones – no cameos, thank you.  Interestingly, there are no straight comic performances here, and many of the roles are villains.  And it is also focused on movies people have actually heard of. 

So, this is not an exhaustive list – it overlooks plenty of great performances.  But it is my list and based on my criteria alone – and I’m sure I’ll hear about my myriad defects of insight, taste, breeding and general mental competence in the comments.  For example, Daniel Day Lewis is missing because I decided not to invest three hours into There Will Be Blood (2007) since after seeing the “I drink your milkshake!” clip I just can’t take it seriously. 

Johnny Depp is missing for his Captain Jack Sparrow character from the Pirates of the Caribbean films because he’s mildly amusing for about the first hour or so of this seemingly endless series but eventually makes me long to walk the plank off into the blessedly Depp-free depths of the briny. 

Leonardo Di Caprio is missing because he’s always terrible. I’m sure my passing him over will make him cry all the way to the supermodel bank.

And you film snobs out there are out of luck. This list completely ignores foreign language films – if you’re outraged at my glaring omission of Migbor Ombungliani’s shattering portrayal of Yegiv the Goatherd in the Albanian Dogme 95 epic The Thousand Meaningless Agonies of My Existence, you need to find yourself a different list.  And probably a girlfriend. 

Speaking of girls, there are not many here.  It just worked out that way, and I’m not sure why.  But this is a pure meritocracy.  If you want a quota system, you probably need to hit the Huffington Post.  Of course, on the HP, half the Top Ten would be performances from Brokeback Mountain with the rest of the slots spread out among the various dreary, America-hating, soldier-sliming, anti-war movies that have zipped through the theaters since 9/11 on the way to their final reward in the Blockbuster remainder bins (“At number seven, we have Ryan Phillip as the emotionally shattered, psychotic vet in Stop-Loss , followed by number six, some actor you never heard of as the emotionally shattered, psychotic vet in Redacted ….”).

So here are the top ten performances of the last 25 years, in order:

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10.  Denzel Washington – Training Day (2001):  Denzel Washington is so good because crooked LAPD cop Alonzo Harris is so damn bad – he’s like the Antichrist with a badge.  There’s an incredible smoothness to his performance, as if all the goodness of his previous characters was seamlessly turned 180 degrees.  It’s his comfort in the role that is so mesmerizing – there is nothing “actory” about his performance, though of course (minor spoiler) the character himself is pretending to be something he is not throughout the movie.  The way he talks, the way he moves, his ease in that sordid world – it is all so different from the Denzel Washington we’ve known before.  The movie itself is watchable, but kind of dopey.  But Washington?  You can’t look away.

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9.  R. Lee Ermey – Full Metal Jacket (1987):  Some may say that Ermey simply did in front of Stanley Kubrick’s camera what he had done for years as a real USMC drill instructor.  To some extent, that might be accurate, but remember that being a drill instructor is itself a kind of performance.  While the amazing barracks scene takes the Basic Training experience to the nth degree, there is a lot of truth to it, as I found out when I reported to Basic at Ft. Sill about a month after seeing this movie.  I vividly recall Drill Sergeant Whittlesey fulminating to our formation about our utter inability to meet even the lowest standards of competence when, in what was undoubtedly a flash of insanity, I turned my head slightly from the rigid position of attention and saw the other drill sergeants cracking up.  Ermey’s performance is dead-on and unforgettable, and not just to those of us who have experienced the delights of Basic Training firsthand.

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8.  Kevin Spacey – American Beauty (1999):  The Nineties were the Age of Spacey, with stunning showcases in Swimming with Sharks (1994), Seven (1995), The Usual Suspects (1995) and L.A. Confidential (1997).  However, his turn as suburban loser turned rebel Lester Burnham best captures the kind of calm, semi-smarmy, cynical detachment that Spacey does better than anyone else.  Through Spacey, you can feel Lester’s angst, understand his moral quandaries, and see him come out of the shell he retreated into rather than face the world.  It’s a great performance in a movie that is often frustrating in its treatment of military men as sexually-repressed sociopaths, such a hackneyed Hollywood cliché that the filmmakers should have been embarrassed to wheel it out again.  Spacey’s work actually makes it worth wading through that nonsense.     

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7.  Helen Mirren – The Queen (2006):  Mirren brought to life a living person, the Queen of England, a relic of an age when people actually considered the idea of “royalty” as something more than the joke it is.  The essential ridiculousness of the concept of a monarch aside, Mirren’s Elizabeth is a woman of values a half-century out of date, values that had allowed Britain to survive the Depression and the Blitz and to defeat the Axis.  But Mirren shows how the Queen had grown detached from her subjects, a people who have become vulgar, sentimental and maudlin in an age of celebrity and who choose to idolize a feel-good empty vessel like Lady Diana over a monarch who symbolizes a mature, strong and faithful nation.  Watching this pampered but smart, tough but cunning woman deal with the changes (mostly for the worse) in her country before the backdrop of the death of “the People’s Princess” is riveting.  The Queen is a great film about a formerly great people and their descent into juvenile mawkishness (their awesome warriors excepted), and its impact largely comes from Mirren’s staggering achievement in the lead role.

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6.  Val Kilmer – Tombstone (1993):  I have no idea what “I’m your huckleberry” is supposed to mean, but I do know that Val Kilmer was incredible as the tubercular sawbones Doc Holiday in this retelling of the legendary gunfight at the O.K. Corral tale. It’s no one note performance – you can see he’s sometimes scared even behind the smartass, ironic demeanor, but that dose of reality (compounded by the toll he shows his vices and his consumption taking upon him) only makes the character come more alive.  Mention Tombstone to anyone and the first thing you’ll hear is the name “Val Kilmer.”  That says it all.

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5.  Meryl Streep – The Devil Wears Prada (2006):  Yeah, I saw this movie about ladies in the fashion industry and, dammit, I liked it.  They’ll probably take back my Airborne wings and break my cavalry saber for admitting it.  But you gotta give credit where credit is due, and Streep deserves it.  Her Miranda Priestly is best known for overbearing arrogance, but that’s only a part of her character.  Streep actually lets us peer inside and see her humanity, to understand why she demands excellence, and to see the price she pays for holding herself to her own exacting standards.  The movie wimps out a bit by not forcing the heroine to really confront and deal with the choices the Miranda character faced – things just sort of work out for the heroine deus ex machina-style thanks to an unconvincing, off-screen intervention by Miranda herself.  But while the movie finds an easy way out, Streep’s performance takes the character down a hard road and turns a caricature into a character.

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4.  Steve Coogan – 24 Hour Party People (2002):  This is probably the “smallest” of the pictures on the list, but it’s one of the best.  Coogan plays the real-life British music impresario Tony Wilson, who discovered and championed bands like Joy Division in the late-70s and 80s.  Coogan takes the role and runs with it, totally inhabiting the character in an often surreal portrayal that captures all the excitement, excess and exhilaration of the times.  Beyond the fascinating story (especially the first half involving Joy Division) and the incredible music (buy the soundtrack now), Coogan’s performance sticks with you as a real, larger-than-life character made both human and more than human by an incredible actor.

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3.  Sharon Stone – Casino (1995):  Stone got a bad rap for Basic Instinct (1992), where her cervix seemed to overshadow what really was a great femme fatale turn in a really good, really pulpy film noir classic.  In her heyday in the ’90s, Stone was actually Hollywood’s only real movie star, in the way actresses used to be stars.  She was talented and beautiful, but distinctive too – she had that intangible something that put her on a plane above her peers.  In Casino, as De Niro’s harpy of a wife Ginger, she uses that glamour to show why De Niro’s character would fall for – and keep being drawn back to – a woman who redefines the term “bad news.”  It is a relentless, heartfelt, devastating performance that makes you care (a little bit) for her as she meets the fate she has earned even as you let out a sigh of relief knowing she won’t be back to wreak more havoc. 

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2.  Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight (2008):  Even the conventional wisdom gets it right once in a while.  Since just about everyone on Earth has seen it, there’s no real reason to talk about why it’s such an incredible performance.  Ledger got a lot of praise for Brokeback Mountain (2005), but his performance there was just a collection of scowls, tics and mumbles that constitute nothing more than what Hollywood thinks real gay cowboys are like.  As with the movie itself, most of the acclaim was simply wishful thinking – they loved the subject so they had to praise the portrayals.  There’s no wishful thinking here – this was acting far beyond what some comic book movie had any right to incorporate.  And it makes the loss of Ledger to the scourge of drugs that much more of a waste. 

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1.  Ralph Fiennes – Schindler’s List (1993):  This is the most terrifying portrait of pure evil ever put on the screen, made all the more horrifying by a performance that shows how a real-life normal man consciously chose to immerse himself in darkness and luxuriated in it, who willingly paid a terrible price in exchange for becoming, for a time, a dark god with the power of life and death.  Fiennes earned a Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the real war criminal Amon Goeth, but this was truly the lead role.  Goeth was the Nazi commander of a forced labor camp that he turned into a private kingdom subject only to his cruel and sick whims.  In scenes like where Goeth uses a high powered rifle to amuse himself by picking off victims from the porch of his mansion, Fiennes shows us a cultured, intelligent man who makes a deliberate decision to embrace evil.  He shows us that the potential for evil lurks inside all of us just as Oskar Schindler’s example teaches that the potential for good exists there too.  What is so powerful is how Fiennes shows that Goeth chose to experience the transitory joy of wickedness knowing it would lead to his death.  It is a performance that will leave you shaken.

And here are some honorable mentions:  Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction (1987), Bill Murray in Groundhog Day (1993), and Tommy Lee Jones as Sam Gerard in The Fugitive (1993) were all memorable.  Robert De Niro was great as the taciturn criminal in Heat (1995) (Al Pacino also deserves a shout-out for his ferocious and highly entertaining scenery chewing, but I would not call it “good” acting).  As great as Anthony Hopkins was as Hannibal Lector in Silence of the Lambs (1991), Brian Cox was even better in a smaller role as the cannibalistic convict in 1986’s Manhunter.  The less said about the sequel Hannibal (2001) the better, though it also featured Ray Liotta.  Liotta gets a nod for Goodfellas, as do Bobby De Niro and Joe Pesci (and for that matter, those last two should also be mentioned regarding the aforementioned Casino). 

And to further rile the members of Team Snooty, let’s not forget Alan Rickman in Die Hard (1988).  Yeah, artistes, I went there.

Creepy, right? I have not seen Haunting and will probably wait for DVD or pay cable, but that is a weird, startling, attention-grabbing image. As a movie junkie, I love good movie art. The best movie posters are evocative. They capture what a movie is all about without giving away the mystery. There are certain movie posters that instantly put me back in that theatre experiencing the film for the very first time. The best movie posters are not just promotional tools. They stand as a work of art on their own. These are my favorites, buit it is by no means a definitive list. Feel free to add your favorites (and subtract any of mine).

#1 – JAWS
I saw this all-time classic as a 9-year-old on opening day, and saw it a second time at the Saturday matinee. To this day, I am afraid to swim in the ocean. That shark is always there in my imagination. The poster is literal, but haunting.

#2 – CHINATOWN
This is truly a work of art. The smoke shrouding the ultimate mystery of Evelyn Mulwray, and the stylized version of Jake Gittes (played by Jack Nicholson), the hard-boiled detective who unravels it all.

#3 – THE DARK KNIGHT
Impossible to separate Heath Ledger’s death from his remarkable interpretation of The Joker. This is an amazing image. In 30 years, I will look at this poster and immediately feel the impact of Christopher Nolan’s masterpiece.

#4 – BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S
You can almost hear Audrey Hepburn warbling “Moon River” at the sight of this iconic poster. Every woman wanted to be her and every man wanted to be with her.

#5 – SECRETARY
The 2002 cult classic about a sadomasochistic relationship between a demanding lawyer (James Spader) and a submissive secretary (Maggie Gyllenhaal). The movie is an under-appreciated gem. The poster may be even better.

#6 – UNFORGIVEN
This is my favorite poster made for Clint Eastwood’s masterful revisionist Western. Simple. Classic. Tells you everything you need to know about Clint’s Bill Munny character.

#7 – AMERICAN BEAUTY
A beautiful image that suggests the perversity that lies just beneath the surface of the suburban neighborhood created by screenwriter Alan Ball and director Sam Mendes.

#8 – SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
“You will let me know when those lambs stop screaming, won’t you?” You can almost hear Dr. Hannibal Lecter say it. The Death’s-head moth “lodged” in Clarice Starling’s throat. Brilliant image.

#9 – VERTIGO
An ode to acrophobia as Detective Scottie Ferguson (as played by Jimmy Stewart) battles his fear of heights while becoming obsessed with Madeleine Elster (the stunning Kim Novak). This kaleidoscopic design immediately brings the strains of Bernard Hermann’s amazing score into my head.

#10 – PULP FICTION
Uma Thurman as Mia Wallace in all her swagger. Yes, she does wind up with a sharpie circle on her chest and a shot of adrenaline, but the whole gritty movie is captured with this image.

HONORABLE MENTION
- in no particular order -
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
SWEENEY TODD
MEAN STREETS
AMADEUS
GONE WITH THE WIND
METROPOLIS
KING KONG (1939 Fay Wray version)
CLOVERFIELD
THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY

Steve Mason is on Facebook and now also on Twitter@LAMase.